


All It Takes

by ideallyqualia



Series: UshiShira [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Universe, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 05:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5526782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideallyqualia/pseuds/ideallyqualia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A suggestion, a whim, it doesn't matter how it starts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All It Takes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ushijima ebooks (bokutowl)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bokutowl/gifts).



> This is a treat! I'm not your gifter, but. ushishira

"We never spend time together. As a team." Tendou flattened his hand on the floor, demanding attention as his hand tightened in the grass. "This is a problem, Wakatoshi. Everyone here, this a _problem_."

"We always do. We're doing it right now," Kawanishi said.

"Yeah, but we never leave to do something big and fun." Tendou pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled on the screen. "What about the movies?"

"That's not 'fun.' We'd be in a dark room, not talking to each other." Kawanishi leaned back on his hands to rest them in the grass. The cool fall breeze gusted past, and he let his head fall back a little to feel it ghost across his skin and ruffle his hair.

"Then when _should_ people go to the movies, Taichi?"

"On a date, maybe."

"Friends can't go at all?"

"That's not what I said."

Shirabu tried to look past them and ignore them. His eyes landed on Ushijima and Goshiki, who were both watching and listening intently to the conversation. Goshiki's hands were on the floor in front of him between his stretched out legs, leaning forward even though they weren't answering anything he said. Ushijima remained quiet, his head dipped down to look at them and signal his held attention. Semi stared at a point beside Tendou's head.

"We're never going to agree," Semi said.

"We can still go somewhere. Lunch?"

Goshiki raised his hand. "Ramen! Wait, seafood. I'll have fish! Boiled flounder, please. Or sashimi, if there's flounder sashimi."

"I'm not taking _orders_ ," Tendou said, his head jerking away.

Shirabu lifted his hand stiffly. "I'll also have fish."

"Kenjirou, don't encourage him."

"What kind of fish?" Ushijima asked. A betrayed grumble strangled from Tendou's throat, and he wrinkled his nose between them.

"I like whitebait the most, but I don't think it's healthy to eat it a lot. I'll take any fish."

"You don't have a preference for other fish?"

"What kind of fish do you like?" Shirabu asked.

"Hm... I like snapper."

"I'll have mackerel, then."

"We're not at a restaurant," Tendou interrupted.

Shirabu scratched at his neck. "I'm getting hungry from this. I want to eat fish sometime."

"I'm not taking you to lunch after all." Tendou huffed and dusted his legs off.

"I'll take you. I'm in the mood for fish." Ushijima's legs uncrossed and shifted to the side. "Although it's too late for lunch today."

Shirabu lifted his hand to wave him off. "You don't have to _actually_ take me to lunch."

"Tendou is right. We don't spend enough time together. I should start with you, Shirabu. Do you want lunch after Saturday practice?"

Shirabu straightened, his throat clearing as he focused and swept his eyes over Ushijima. "This Saturday?"

"I'm free on Saturday."

Shirabu's eyes closed as he shrugged. "Alright. I'll go."

Ushijima's mouth turned in a soft smile. "I'd like that."

Tendou folded his knees to his chest. "And now that that's settled, what are we going to do?"

"Watch a movie by yourself," Semi said.

"Boring, boring, you're really terrible at this." Tendou drew out a long groan and slid his hands on the floor. He didn't lift his arm, but he yanked out a few blades of grass with his fingers.

Shirabu's hands fell limp over his legs. Ushijima's smile faded, and he returned to intently listening to Tendou and Kawanishi talk, his eyes quiet and polite as he gave them full attention.

Shirabu sighed, sinking back on his hands and glancing at the ground. Ushijima was calm, steadily looking between everyone and landing on Shirabu's face, and the relaxed crinkle in his eyes made Shirabu's fingers curl in the dirt. By now they had spent an hour in the patch of grass next to Shiratorizawa's science building, and at this rate, Shirabu couldn't remember what they did to fill an hour. They still weren't doing anything, and Shirabu remained almost motionless as he returned Ushijima's gaze, passing and sliding to Ushijima's eyes, mouth, nose, and down to his neck. Ushijima didn't react, staring into the space between Semi and Kawanishi as they dragged the conversation from Tendou. Shirabu looked away. There wasn't much he could do to faze Ushijima. If going to lunch alone together didn't, then Shirabu couldn't tell what _would_ get to him.

Shirabu turned to Semi. "You have grass in your hair."

Semi's hands darted to his head, rummaging through and shaking out bits of shredded grass. He narrowed his eyes with stiff shoulders.

"Satori."

Tendou shrugged. "It's not my fault you didn't notice."

Semi kept picking at his hair, pinching strands and running his fingers over and over. "Is there any more?"

"No."

"You're fine."

Semi's hand rested at his forehead. "Fine."

Shirabu fell into bored silence, letting out a heavy breath and staring into space.

 

* * *

 

"You said you knew where you wanted to go?" Shirabu asked. He followed alongside Ushijima as they headed out from Shiratorizawa's dorm building. Shirabu wanted to go to his room for his wallet and shower while he was there, and Ushijima ended up agreeing to do the same.

"There's a seafood restaurant I think you'd like." Ushijima's head turned. "Is there anywhere else you want to go?"

"No, I don't think so. Why? Do you want to go anywhere else after we eat?"

"I'll just go where you do."

Ushijima nodded. He took the lead to guide Shirabu, but Shirabu hurried through a couple steps to catch back up. They were still close to Shiratorizawa, and Shirabu doubted that either of them could get lost when they were in a familiar area, so he didn't want to be led.

Shirabu fidgeted with his fingers a little, pinching the bottom of his shirt at his sides to busy them. He was tempted to just cross his arms, and he almost did, but he forced his arms down after a small jerk of his hands. He glanced up to Ushijima, latching onto something to distract him from the itch to move his hands.

Ushijima calmly walked beside him, his eyes scanning around the street, up at the trees and the buildings spaced in the distance. The further away they walked from school, the tighter the streets became, and the closer the buildings stood together. It no longer felt like they were standing in the fields next to their school and the wide empty green open to all the sports clubs and teams.

Stores slowly drifted by as they passed corners and made their way deeper into town. Ushijima checked his phone once in a while, staring at it instead of scrolling. He didn't return it to his pocket. He kept it in his hand at his side, his had lightly swinging in his walk. Shirabu edged closer.

"Why do you have your phone in your hand?"

Ushijima lifted it to show Shirabu the screen. "For directions."

"Don't you know your way around here?"

Ushijima lowered his hand. "I jog through town sometimes, but I don't know or remember enough to navigate stores."

"That makes sense..." Shirabu reached a hand behind his neck to stretch his elbow in the air, pressing his hand into his back. "Are you hungry?"

"I can wait."

Shirabu dropped his hands back to his sides. His arm brushed Ushijima's on the way down, but Ushijima didn't react, he continued looking at store windows they passed. Shirabu thought about repeating it again, slower, intentionally rubbing his arm against Ushijima's to draw a response out of him, but he didn't go through with it. He settled beside Ushijima and let him lead them inside, walking in as Ushijima held the door open for him.

Shirabu plopped into a seat after they ordered. "Now I'm starting to get hungry."

Ushijima stretched his arms up, raising them in a bent lock and slowly unlocking and dragging them through a shoulder roll. He gave a small contented moan from the stretch. Shirabu could see his muscle on the underside of his arms, toned and full with a tense twitch.

Ushijima picked up his drink and took a sip. He tilted his head after a pause. "What's wrong?"

Shirabu's hand skidded forward to grab his drink. "Nothing." He gulped down some of his soda and set it back on the table, pushing it to the side. It wasn't necessary to move it so much, but the extraneous movement gave Shirabu time to think, and potential room for stalling later on if he couldn't think of something to say, sliding his drink back and forth instead of just taking another sip.

Shirabu followed the noise of the restaurant around to see the commotion. Tables filled with people gathering for lunch on a Saturday afternoon, so it was reasonably crowded, stacking more noise over the clouded clamor of the room. There were a few groups of people sitting to eat, but Shirabu thought he noticed the majority of the customers sitting two to a table.

"Do you go into town often?" Ushijima asked.

Shirabu rested his cheek into his hand. "Only with other people. I don't live that close to Shiratorizawa, so I know my own neighborhood better."

"You've been a student here for over a year now."

"I know."

Ushijima leaned back in his seat. "It can't be helped, then."

"Living in the dorms is good enough for me."

"It is, is it..."

"You live there too. And I'd rather just be where you are than get lost in the shopping district."

Ushijima's arms relaxed onto the table. "It's the same for me."

Shirabu's head dipped down slightly, unable to think of a response to break the weighted silence. The dimming quiet between them muffled his ability to think and speak.

Their names rung from the register, and Shirabu stood up and slid his chair out. "I'll get your food with mine."

"Thank you."

Shirabu returned with their plates of food. They both ordered grilled fish, and true to Ushijima's word from a few days ago, he chose red snapper. Shirabu set it in front of him and reclaimed his seat.

"Here." Shirabu slid him chopsticks and started eating.

Shirabu began eating right away, going through a few chunks of mackerel and scoops of rice with his chopsticks.

"You're eating in a hurry. You really were hungry, weren't you?" Ushijima asked.

Shirabu stopped chewing to hear, and he swallowed. "Maybe."

Ushijima placed his chopsticks on the table. "You should slow down. You managed to get rice on yourself. Here, it's right there."

He reached across the table, his hand nudging against his cheek to gently pick the rice off. He brushed Shirabu's skin, quietly and softly skirting to the side until he pulled away.

Ushijima lifted his hand to show him.

"I believe you." Shirabu picked up a napkin and accepted the stray rice as trash to throw out later. He eyed the crumpled napkin he dropped on the table. "I don't know how I got rice on my face."

"You're not using your chopsticks carefully."

"I'll be more careful, then." Shirabu reassumed his chopsticks in his hand and picked at another chunk of fish.

"Do you like your meal?"

"I do."

"You don't seem enthused about it."

"I love fish," Shirabu said in the same tone. "I mean it." Shirabu didn't know how else to tell him, so he shoveled his chopsticks in and dug up a large clump of fish and rice, prepared to take a bite.

"That's not necessary, I understand."

Shirabu dumped it back onto his plate. "I might order another if I'm still hungry."

"Can I try a piece of yours?"

Shirabu moved a small chunk to his plate. "Go ahead."

Ushijima ate it right away, nibbling until he began decisively biting and chewing.

"Do you want to try mine?"

"Sure." Shirabu clicked his chopsticks together and hovered them above his plate, anticipating Ushijima's offer.

Ushijima's chopsticks went past their plates, high above the table, nudging a piece of fish to Shirabu's mouth.

"Say 'ah,' Shirabu. Your mouth isn't open."

Shirabu obeyed, thrown off by the request and too baffled to process it and refuse. Shirabu barely chewed it. He coughed and swallowed by accident, but it was small enough to swallow, so he didn't choke.

"Are you alright?" Ushijima handed Shirabu his soda, and Shirabu immediately drank.

"You surprised me, that's all." Shirabu cleared his throat and motioned to Ushijima's plate. "I'll take a piece myself."

He crept his chopsticks to Ushijima's food and retrieved a piece of fish. It held some of the same grilled flavor as his mackerel, smoky but not as strong. Shirabu still liked any kind of fish, so he savored and swallowed contentedly, and he moved on to eating rice.

"Did you like it?"

Shirabu nodded with his mouth full. "It's delicious," he said after he chewed.

Ushijima's eyes brightened, and he returned to eating, his mouth softening with another bite.

They finished their food and cleared their table to leave. Shirabu opened the door out, and Ushijima followed him, his phone in his hand again.

"What're you looking at?" Shirabu asked.

"I found a guide to the town. It suggested the restaurant."

"What else does it suggest?"

"Dessert at an ice cream parlor, going to the park, sightseeing at the edge of town..."

Shirabu raised an eyebrow. He couldn't place the rising prickling feeling in his spine from listening, but he ignored it.

Ushijima pocketed his phone. "Do you agree with it?"

"Agree with what?"

"Do you want ice cream?"

"Not right now..."

"Let's go to the mall first, then."

Ushijima and Shirabu left the street they were on and turned the corner to a new block. They both knew the way by heart. The mall was easy to find and a popular enough place they both visited, and they could weave through streets without thinking about where they were going. Shirabu took in the passing buildings for a few minutes, but he redirected his gaze to Ushijima when he adjusted to the scenery. Ushijima was still looking around, his head following the path of his eyes, up and down buildings and to patches of trees and bushes in between.

They never shopped together before. Shirabu wanted to take extra care in watching him and seeing what he liked to buy, and how he picked things out.

"Do you need to buy anything?"

"No, but I thought you might want to look."

Shirabu shrugged. "Alright. Where do you want to go first? Or do you want to wander around?"

"Wandering is fine to me."

They drifted inside, and Shirabu shivered at the gust of air buffeting them at the entrance. Summer had faded to fall by now, and a faint chill swept in the air with the autumn wind. Shirabu grimaced from the change in the air as they walked into the mall.

They walked by a few stores that neither of them were interested in. Shirabu kept Ushijima in his peripheral sight, aware of his thoughtful gaze through windows and over stalls. Neither of them had any interest in clothing stores and displays, and they barely glanced at them. The only thing on Shirabu's mind when he looked into a window of mannequins and sweaters was what Ushijima would wear, if he could be compelled to dress for occasions, if he'd wear an overcoat.

Shirabu eyed Ushijima's clothes, gauging his pants and long sleeved shirt against the merchandise in store windows. He was used to seeing him in the Shiratorizawa school uniform and volleyball jerseys, and neither of those were casual for ordinary wear, or chosen by Ushijima to wear himself. Shirabu wanted to know what he liked wearing, and what he'd look like in something different, something Shirabu picked for him.

Ushijima stopped in front of a store with large wide windows, racks of toys out front, and a blended hum of noise coming from inside.

"A pet store?" Shirabu asked.

"Do you want to go in?"

"Might as well. Let's see some pets." Shirabu stepped inside and turned a corner to an aisle, glancing over cages of birds. The dull muffled sounds from earlier in front of the store were much clearer now. Chirps rang loudly through the air as birds swiveled heads to watch Shirabu pass by.

He turned to look behind him, and he found Ushijima idling in front of a pen of puppies on the floor. Shirabu couldn't make out what they were, he just noticed that he saw a husky and a few shirabu inu puppies mixed in. One of them lifted its paws and rested them on the pen's metal bars, leaning up to Ushijima with its mouth open and eyes bright, animatedly wagging its tail as it pawed. Ushijima didn't reach his hand down to pet it, but his mouth curved gently with warm eyes.

"Don't you already have a dog?" Shirabu asked as he came to his side.

"I do, at my family's house." Ushijima raised his eyebrow at him. "Do you have a favorite animal?"

"Hn. I can't think of any." Shirabu dusted his hands on his pants, flicking off any feathers or dust that fell on him from being around bird cages.

Ushijima followed him to fish and lizard tanks as they continued looking around the store. Shirabu spent a few minutes looking at the rabbit pen, watching rabbits sniff and kick bedding as they hopped around and ducked into hideaways.

Shirabu led them out when they were both bored of milling around. They headed down another row of stores, a jewelry shop and a children's toy store with assorted shops in between. Shirabu couldn't tell how much time passed, but when they came to a small bakery at a corner, he considered buying something to eat again.

His hesitation drew Ushijima's eye. "Do you want something from the bakery?"

"Not really," Shirabu said slowly, trying to mask his interest.

Ushijima headed inside, and Shirabu resigned himself to trailing him. Clear display cases of candies and pastries greeted them at the counter that wrapped around the store, filling the air with a faint sweet aroma.

Shirabu cleared his throat. "I think I'll buy something after all." He stepped up to the register and pointed at a few pieces of chocolate.

After buying them and returning to Ushijima, he opened the paper wrapper. "Want one?"

"One, then." Ushijima slipped his fingers in and pulled out a piece.

Shirabu was already biting his own, and he watched as Ushijima nibbled on his chocolate, his mouth tugging contentedly. Shirabu chewed slower to enjoy his at the same time as Ushijima, and he pocketed the rest for later.

"We've been at the mall for a while now. Want to go to the park now?" Ushijima asked after he finished. They made it through most of the mall by now, and there weren't any stores left that they wanted to spend time in.

"It's nearby. Might as well."

Outside of the mall, the wind blew cool in a soft breeze, and it brought out a sigh in Shirabu. The weather was the same as earlier, mildly sunny with a few clouds, his ideal weather for being outside. The park came into view after a few minutes of walking. Tree branches crowned the archway on their way through, eclipsing the sun in flickers of shadows above them.

An uneasy feeling rose up Shirabu's back again, almost the same sensation as the chill in the mall entrance earlier, but not cold. It was something warm raising his skin, uncomfortable like an embarrassing realization. He thought back to the lunch earlier, and to the stroll through the mall.

"Do you want to sit?" Ushijima asked, gesturing at a park bench to the side of a worn path.

Shirabu took a look around. Other people sat at the benches along the path, people sitting together. In couples.

"Ushijima... Can I see that guide on your phone?"

Ushijima handed him his phone, and Shirabu scrolled through it, skimming to the top of the page.

"Ushijima. This is a guide for where to go. For dating."

"It is?"

Shirabu pushed the phone closer to him. "For dating," Shirabu repeated.

Ushijima reclaimed his phone. "Oh."

"No wonder it started feeling like a date." Shirabu sighed, his shoulders drooping with his breath.

"I'm sorry. Did you feel uncomfortable when you realized it?"

"No. It's alright. I still had fun with you." Shirabu rubbed his hand at the back of his neck awkwardly.

Ushijima scratched at his shoulder, equally sheepish. "I'm glad."

"Do you just want to go home now?" Shirabu asked.

"If you want to, we can finish our date," Ushijima said, his eyes slightly away from Shirabu's, sliding back to will an answer.

"Let's...let's do that, then."

**Author's Note:**

> (General A/N that exists at the end of all my fics): I find unsolicited concrit really rude, I'm not looking for any. Please don't tell me someone was OOC/something happened you didn't like/it's too short/etc. in any bookmarks or comments.


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